A reminder that fashion is in a constant state of flux is the unexpected news that Sarah Burton will be leaving Alexander McQueen after more than 25 years with the company. She started at the house in 1997 and was tasked with leading the company after McQueen’s tragic death in 2010. Never one for the spotlight, Burton respected the heritage of the house at the same time that she left her own mark, which was softer.
For McQueen, fashion could be a sort of catharsis, a working out of trauma; Burton seemed to be starting from a calmer, more grounded place. That’s not to say her work couldn’t be hard-edged or dark, but it was as if she had opened the windows at the house of McQueen to let in the light and the wind. The romance of her vision inspired photographs as transporting as her work.
Listen to Vogue editors talk about Sarah Burton’s Alexander McQueen on this episode of The Run-Through here.
